Five greatest Champions League final goals
Saturday’s Champions League final is unlikely to be an evening that Juventus will want to look back on with much pride after they were hammered 4-1 by Real Madrid.
The Italian side held their heads up high for a period but ultimately crumbled under the sheer weight of pressure from their opponents in the second half of the encounter. During the opening period, they had matched them and deserved to go in at the break level – not least because they scored one of the competition’s all-time great goals through.
Trailing 1-0, they pieced together a glorious move that ended with Mario Mandzukic taking the ball on his chest and firing a looping overhead kick into the net beyond Keylor Navas’ reach.
How does it rate in terms of other great goals in previous Champions League finals? Here’s our definitive list of the best five.
#5 David Villa (Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United, 28/5/2011)
Barcelona sealed the Champions League title in 2011 with a goal of the highest quality from David Villa. As was often the case for Pep Guardiola’s great side, it was Lionel Messi who was the detonator for the Blaugrana.
Fifteen minutes earlier, the Argentine had put his side 2-1 ahead after Wayne Rooney had equalised Pedro’s opener. Not only did he score what proved to be the winner, he was also the catalyst as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side were finally killed off.
He gathered the ball on the right wing, frankly embarrassed Nani with some smart footwork then beat Patrice Evra as he broke into the box in trademark fashion. His cutback might not have been accurate, but his surge had been enough to destabilise the defence.
When Barca won possession back, David Villa was left unmarked on the edge of the penalty area. Sergio Busquets slipped the ball to him, and he took one touch before planting a shot into the top corner of the goal, well out of Edwin van der Sar’s reach.